July, 2013

(Robbie’s body may have been in the Octagon at that moment, but in his mind, he was already making it rain at Little Darlings. / Photo via Getty Images)

According to figures released by the Washington State Department of Licensing, the UFC paid out $1,050,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 24 fighters who competed at UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga on Saturday, led by main card slugger Robbie Lawler, who took in $156,000 including his win bonus and Knockout of the Night bonus. Three other fighters broke into six-figure territory thanks to their end-of-night bonuses, including Melvin Guillard, Ed Herman, and flyweight headliner Demetrious Johnson.

Check out the full salary list below, courtesy of MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that the figures don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses.”

His back now against the wall, Daley has changed his tune in regards to his former promotion, thusly moving on to stage three of the five stages of grief: Bargaining. Daley first reached out to the UFC via his Facebook page:

Dana white “Paul Daley does not wanna be in the UFC”? Given the opportunity Dana , I would be right back in there, please just send me that contract.

Dana questioned about me again, Ariel saying he’s gonna get in touch with me, as we rally for a UFC return. Weather it happens or not, it’s kinda cool, that my recent performances and attitude has caught the attention of the big dogs, despite being on smaller shows.

Got an interview with Ariel Helwani tomorrow, seems talk of a UFC come back has gathered pace. Very important interview, as good a speaking with Dana himself…..oohh what to say?…Kinda nervous now….UFC Manchester? Diaz re-match, Sorry, I’ve grown up, I make weight…I’ve got a little son now…please help me feed him…

It’s kind of a shame, really. There’s so much time left in 2013, yet who in their right mind is going to even attempt to pull off a more embarrassing feat in the cage than the gentleman above? There is so much fail involved in this video that we’re almost certain it was a self-parody gone horribly awry.

The flyweight division doesn’t serve a purpose in the UFC — at least not a good purpose.

Now, do us both a favor and read the whole article before you go to the comments.

The oft-mentioned casual fan — you know, the kind of person who’s decked out in TapouT gear, plays UFC Personal Trainer, and thinks “MMA” is an acronym for some kind of governmental organization and not a sport — doesn’t care about the UFC’s flyweight division and never has. This fact hasn’t been more brutally apparent than it is now.

The event wasn’t a success in terms of TV viewership either. Despite winning the night in the 18-49 year old demographic, their numbers with that demographic were down 40% since the last FOX event. The FOX portion of the card was viewed by an average of 2.04 million viewers. To put that into perspective, more people watched a rerun of Cops that aired on FOX the previous Saturday in the same time slot than were watching LIVE UFC ACTION!!! Not only did “Johnson vs. Moraga” draw the fewest viewers of any UFC on FOX event, it was the lowest-rated MMA event ever on network television.

The numbers don’t lie. Flyweight is the Ryan Leaf of the UFC’s weight classes. So why not get rid of it?

Every time American Ninja Warrior comes onto the only television with cable in my apartment (relax, it’s a big screen. A projection big screen.), my roommate scoffs at it and launches into a rant about how superior the original, Japanese version is. The same goes for Wipeout/MXC/Takeshi’s Castle and of course, Iron Chef. And while he’s undoubtedly correct in his assertion that the American versions of these shows are “padded down, pussified desecrations of a once noble culture,” I still give my respect to the contestants brave (or simply patient) enough to secure a spot on any of them. Except Wipeout. I’m convinced that morbidly obese troglodytes with tourrettes are the only people allowed to compete on that show.

In any case, former flyweight title challenger John Dodson recently made an appearance on the Americanized Ninja Warrior, and it’s a testament to how difficult the show is that he wasn’t able to make it past the first stage. This is one of the quickest fighters in the UFC — a 125-pound ball of energy with “ninja, Matrix moves” who regularly competes in such events as Tough Mudder – and yet even he was humbled by the imaginatively-titled “Grip Hang.”

Like his previous battle with Demetrious Johnson at UFC on FOX 6, “The Magician” put in a strong effort on Ninja Warrior but ultimately came up…short (*shimmies, shimmies*). My God, I have never felt so great about being 5’9″. SUCK IT, NERDS.

(The first of Riley’s epic pair of HOOKnSHOOT bouts with Yves Edwards. The second is after the jump.)

16 years, 44 (sanctioned) fights and at least three broken jaws. Ladies and gentlemen of the Potato Nation, Aaron Riley has seen it all.

A nine-fight UFC veteran, Riley announced his retirement from the sport via Twitter yesterday after coming up short against Justin Salas on the Facebook portion of the UFC on FOX 8 undercard.

Riley’s loss to Salas was the first time the seasoned veteran had made a UFC appearance since UFC 135 in September of 2011, where he suffered a broken jaw in the first round of his fight with TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson.

Beginning his MMA career in 1997, Riley built his name under the HOOKnSHOOT banner, fighting alongside (and often with) such future UFC staples as Chris Lytle and Yves Edwards. And not unlike Lytle, Riley would quickly earn a reputation as one of the sports toughest and oft underappreciated brawlers.

So, I woke up this morning and found out that an Australian dude named Nicholas Troy donated $1,719 in the last hour of the official donation drive, bringing our total up to an even five grand. It’s a damn miracle. We did it. Thank you, Nicholas — we’ll never be able to say that enough, but we’re blown away by your generosity. Thanks so much for making this happen.

And fourth place, earning “whatever we have left,” is pumpkinking11, who donated $150.

We’ll be in touch with all you guys soon — as well as with all the folks who pledged $50 and have a CagePotato t-shirt coming their way — to get your mailing info and start sending out the prizes. Thanks so much to everybody who kicked in some money, or helped spread the word on Facebook and Twitter. And please follow Laura Nicholson on twitter @angrylittlefeet, where she’ll continue to update us on her battle against Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Love y’all.

In any case, Belfort’s wife/manager, Joana Prado, recently spoke on his behalf, telling Combate that the Kennedy matchup “didn’t make sense.” Which in today’sMMA landscape, means “give him a week to come around.”

It doesn’t make sense that Vitor, who is No. 1 in the rankings, should fight against No. 2, No. 6 or No. 10 in his weight class. His next fight in the middleweight class will be against the winner of Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva. If the UFC wishes him to fight in any class above middleweight, we are at their disposal. It can be anyone, Tim Kennedy, even Roy Nelson, but it has to be at 205 pounds or heavyweight – he’ll even fight as a heavyweight. Vitor wants to fight, but in his weight class, only if for the belt.

As oddly as that was worded, we kind of understand Belfort’s logic here.